Right now, we are building Papua better
Jayapura, Papua (ANTARA) - Vice President Ma'ruf Amin believes that the change to the Papuan special autonomy was a natural thing to do for better development.

"Changes to special autonomy are a natural thing and are in the process of the national policy cycle to make things even better. Right now, we are building Papua better," Amin stated while meeting representatives of the Papuan Provincial Government, Papuan People's Representative Council (DPRP), and Papuan People's Assembly in Jayapura on Tuesday.

Law Number 2 of 2021 on the Second Amendment to Law Number 21 of 2001 on Papua Province's Special Autonomy, signed by President Joko Widodo on July 19, 2022, was created with several changes to the article.

One of the changes is Article 76, paragraph, 2 that states "The government and House of Representatives can divide provincial and district/city regions into autonomous regions to pursue development equity, improve public services, and people's welfare, as well as uplift the dignity of the Indigenous Papuans by taking into account political, administrative, legal aspects, socio-cultural unity, readiness of human resources, basic infrastructure, economic capacity, future developments, and/or the aspirations of the Papuan people."

Based on this article, four new autonomous regions (DOBs) have been created in Papua, three of which are from Papua Province, those being Central Papua Province, South Papua Province, and Papua Pegunungan Province, and one division area of West Papua Province, namely Southwest Papua Province.

"This change needs a transitional period, especially to organize a new special autonomy and for the changes to have their own impact," the vice president added.

Amin acknowledged that the expansion would have some effects.

"As what the DPRP said earlier, there are things that need to be resolved more specifically, those impacts. However, we need to address everything with optimism. We are confident that we can solve these problems, including the question of the number of members in the House of Representatives. It can be further discussed with the General Elections Commission," he stated.

He will also instruct relevant ministers to come to common grounds to address problems that arise during the transitional period after regional expansion.

"Pay attention to changes to the special autonomy scenario and their impact on regional policies, such as the fiscal capacity due to expansion, including for the Papuan Health Card, then also scholarships for Indigenous Papuans, and also policies related to the earlier thing. I ask Mr. Vice Minister (deputy minister of home affairs) to thoroughly (gauge these aspects)," he concluded.

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Translator: Desca L N, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Sri Haryati
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